Tag Archives: Politics and Government

Tory MPs Demand Boris Johnson Justify Extending ‘Authoritarian’ Lockdown Laws

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Boris Johnson has been told to justify seeking a six-month extension to “authoritarian” lockdown powers in England, amid a Commons rebellion from Conservative MPs.

The government is expected to receive approval from MPs to extend measures within the Coronavirus Act until October.

But senior Tories from the Covid Recovery Group (CRG) have raised concerns over how such a move is consistent with the prime minister’s pledge to restore the country’s freedoms as the vaccine programme rolls out.

Former minister Steve Baker, the CRG’s deputy chairman, said he expects to vote against the measures on Thursday.

Asked about the size of the Conservative rebellion, Baker told Sophy Ridge On Sunday on Sky News: “It’s very difficult to say until we’ve seen the exact detail of what the government is tabling and how the votes will come.

“Let’s be absolutely clear, because it seems Labour and the SNP will vote for any old authoritarianism these days, it looks like the Government will get their business with an enormous majority.

“But I do think it’s important that some of us do seek to hold the government to account with these extraordinary powers.”

Baker, in a separate statement, also said: “With so many vulnerable people now vaccinated, people may ask why the restrictions the government is bringing in this coming week are tougher than they were last summer when we didn’t have a vaccine.

“The detention powers in the Coronavirus Act are disproportionate, extreme, and wholly unnecessary.

“Renewing them would not be reconcilable with the Prime Minister’s guarantee that we are on a ‘one-way road to freedom’ by June 21.”

CRG chairman Mark Harper, writing in the Sunday Telegraph, also challenged the Government’s thinking on its road map to recovery.

He said “reasonable people” would wonder if the Government had struck the right balance in continuing present guidelines curbing family gatherings through Easter.

Harper wrote: “Staying with your family won’t just be illegal for Easter weekend, it will be unlawful until May 17 at the earliest – whatever the data say. The road map is ‘dates, not data’.”

He questioned “draconian” powers in the legislation, adding the police response in the Clapham Common vigil for Sarah Everard last weekend had been partly the result of “poorly drafted” emergency pandemic laws.

But defence secretary Ben Wallace defended the government’s plans, telling Sky News: “The final mile is the most important thing for us all, make sure we buckle down, get through the different stages the prime minister set out.

“At each stage we will be taking assessments from the science, from where we are in the pandemic, and take the steps required.

“It is not a one-way street. Just because we are seeking to extend the powers doesn’t mean we are deaf to how facts change on the ground.”

For Labour, shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy said there are powers within the Act which need to be debated to assess if they are necessary.

She told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “What the vote is this week is about the road map, about easing the road map, it’s about statutory sick pay, it’s about the ban on evictions, all measures that we’ve pushed for, we certainly won’t be standing in the way of the government in getting this legislation passed.”

Shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth expressed frustration at MPs not being allowed to table amendments and offered to work with senior Conservatives to find a way to do this.

Elsewhere, Professor Jeremy Brown, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), warned a “very large number” of at-risk people could develop a “serious” Covid-19 infection if restrictions are lifted now.

He said between 90% and 95% of people who are at high risk have been vaccinated, but mostly with one dose, which does not provide full protection.

He told Sky News: “If you lift restrictions, even though most people who are at risk have been vaccinated, the proportion who have not still represent a very large number of people who could end up with serious infection.”

Dr Mary Ramsay, Public Health England’s head of immunisation, also told the BBC: “I think it’s very important that we don’t relax too quickly.”

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Keir Starmer Heading For ‘Dustbin Of History’, Says Len McCluskey

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Keir Starmer risks being “dumped into the dustbin of history”, Len McCluskey has warned.

The Unite union general secretary said voters “don’t understand” what Labour stands for anymore.

In an interview with Times Radio on Sunday, McCluskey, who was a close ally of Jeremy Corbyn, said Starmer was on course to “destroy the unity of the party”.

McCluskey also said the selection process led to the selection of Paul Williams as Labour’s candidate for the Hartlepool by-election “beggars belief”.

Williams chosen to stand in the seat after he was the only person placed on the shortlist of candidates. 

In the interview, McCluskey said: “Keir needs to start telling people what he is and what Labour are. People don’t know at the moment.

“People knew where Jeremy Corbyn was coming from long before any elections.

“People knew where Tony Blair was coming from long before any elections.

“At the moment we are suffering because people don’t understand what Keir Starmer stands for or what Labour stands for. And that’s what he has to do.

“Stick to the radical nature of the policies he stood on and win back the red wall seats.

“If he continues to attack the democracy in the left of the party he’ll destroy the unity of the party and the reality will be he’ll be dumped into the dustbin of history.”

Speaking about the upcoming Hartlepool by-election, McCluskey said: “If that’s Keir’s definition of democracy well it’s certainly not mine. It’s not even a pretence any more.

“A shortlist – actually it was a longlist – of one man. It beggars belief. But at the moment in terms of the internal democracy within our party. Nothing is surprising.

“I regret the fact that a proper process wouldn’t have been gone through.”

The by-election in the so-called red wall seat was triggered after incumbent Labour MP Mike Hill resigned this week amid sexual harassment allegations.

The contest will be seen a key test for Starmer’s leadership, one year after he succeeded Corbyn at the top of the party.

Boris Johnson made advances into traditional Labour territory in the North of England, Midlands and north Wales during the general election in December 2019, in which he secured a Conservative majority victory.

One of the seats taken as part of the host of red-to-blue turnovers in the North East was Williams’ former Stockton South seat. 

Williams has apologised after a Tweet of his from 2011 was unearthed in which he asked his followers: “Do you have a favourite Tory milf?”

Shami Chakrabarti, the former shadow attorney general under Corbyn, has said the “unacceptable misogynistic” language means Williams should be dumped as the candidate.

But speaking to the Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, Lisa Nandy, the shadow foreign secretary, agreed while the language was “completely and utterly unacceptable”, as Williams had apologised he should not have to step down.

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No.10 Refuses To Say Sorry For Jacob Rees-Mogg’s Smear Against HuffPost Journalist

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Downing Street has refused to apologise after Jacob Rees-Mogg used parliament to smear HuffPost UK journalist Arj Singh.

But No.10 did rebuke the Commons leader, by saying Boris Johnson would not have made the same comments.

Rees-Mogg on Thursday described Singh as “either a knave or a fool” and falsely accused him of “editing” comments made by foreign secretary Dominic Raab. 

On Tuesday, HuffPost UK published a leaked extract from a video call in which Raab told foreign office staff that the UK was keen to trade with countries that had poor human rights records.

The government did not deny Raab had used the words, or suggest they had been doctored. HuffPost UK did not edit the recording that had been passed to us, and our article quoted it in full.

But Rees-Mogg, who is the leader of the House of Commons, on Thursday falsely accused Singh of “editing” the tape using a journalistic “cheat”.

And he said Raab’s words had been “shockingly distorted by low quality journalism”.

Labour has accused Rees-Mogg of an attempt to mislead parliament with the claims. 

No. 10 distanced the prime minister from Rees-Mogg’s words on Friday, saying Johnson would not have made the same comments. 

A Downing Street spokesperson said: “The PM is a staunch believer in the value of the free press and the important role journalists play in our democracy.

“These are not comments that the PM would have made.

“These comments were made by Jacob Rees-Mogg and I’m confident that he can explain their intended meaning.”

The spokesperson declined to say whether Rees-Mogg would be told to retract the comments or apologise.

Downing Street was repeatedly asked to back up claims that the report or recording had “distorted” what Raab had said. No evidence was provided. 

The government was also pressured over its hostility to the media, after comments from the National Union of Journalists’ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet. 

The union also picked out previous comments made by equalities minister Kemi Badenoch, to former HuffPost journalist Nadine White, who claimed it was “creepy and bizarre” for White to have privately asked for comment on a story.

It also follows a report last week that health secretary Matt Hancock had described The Guardian as “a rag” in leaked WhatsApp messages. 

Stanistreet said “this behaviour has to stop”, adding: “It beggars belief that government ministers are smearing and impugning journalists in this way, indulging in outrageous behaviour that demeans them and the offices they hold.

“This same government, including the prime minister and other ministers, have committed time and resources to tackling the growing problem of abuse and harassment which is compromising the safety of journalists across the UK.

“Yet here we have colleagues around the cabinet table acting like playground bullies, undermining the work of journalists, bringing their work into disrepute, and dishing out insults that are clearly designed to further inflame harassment and abuse online.

“It’s not acceptable to dismiss reporting you don’t like as fake news. It’s completely unacceptable to resort to insults and personal smears of journalists simply trying to get on with their job.

“Our elected politicians should be committed to improving the parlous level of public discourse, not further polluting it. This behaviour has to stop, the government must get a grip and put its commitments  to improving the recognition and value of journalists and journalism into practice.”

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Sarah Everard’s Mourners Will Not Be Cowed By A Crackdown On Protests

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The scenes from Clapham Common on Saturday evening were horrific by anyone’s standards. The sight of Met Police officers trampling flowers lain in remembrance, dragging away and pinning to the floor women attending a vigil would be stomach churning under normal circumstances. But these are not normal circumstances.  

That a vigil held in the wake of the horrific murder of Sarah Everard should descend into such horror, allegedly at the hands of an officer of the same police force, shames us all. But whilst the fallout from this shameful episode and the calls for Cressida Dick’s resignation will ring out clearly in the next few days and weeks, we must organise against the next assault on our liberties.

There is no doubt that Cressida Dick should resign. No justification exists for the scenes on Clapham Common but this will not solve the underlying issue. 

This week the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill come before the House of Commons. This hurried piece of legislation is wide ranging and contains many parts to it which appear fairly benign. Sadly, there are some dangerous aspects to the bill too. At the heart of it lies the dangerous and dark curbs on protest. It is a cruel quirk that commissioner Dick has penned an accompanying statement to the legislation.  

It is why the illusionists in government have been so keen to provoke a culture war. To try to divide those usually opposed to them into opposing camps

One might question why a government riding so high in the polls would seek to further neuter dissenting voices. But after presiding over a response to the Covid pandemic, which has seen us suffer the world’s worst death tolls and amongst the most disastrous financial slumps, they are aware their hold on power is built on sand.

It is why the illusionists in government have been so keen to provoke a culture war. To try to divide those usually opposed to them into opposing camps. Those protesting the brutality that people of colour suffer, or against the destruction of our planet, are branded extremists. 

It is in this framing that the bill, in front of the Commons this week, is presented. In doing so the government are seeking consent from those who may have been conditioned to believe that the aforementioned groups should have draconian measures implemented upon them, whilst hoping they do not realise that the same legislation would have much farther-reaching consequences. What they appear not to have bargained for is something so shocking as Saturday’s events coming before the legislation could pass.

Saturday’s shameful scenes put protesters and the government on a collision course. This time, as ever, it is the protesters who are on the side of the angels

The history of protest is littered with events that have changed history, where people who have demanded change we now see as common, sense they have been demonised for daring to ask. The suffragettes, civil rights movement and trade unionists through the ages have all been forced through fighting for what is right, onto the wrong side of the law. Should the government do so again, protests will not stop – criminalising protest never ends well. 

As a young miner on strike during the 1984-85 dispute I saw first-hand how politically enabled state apparatus could be turned on hardworking communities for opposing the government’s regressive agenda. As a representative of those communities who suffered so much as a result, I will never bow to the authoritarianism embodied by this government. I am very pleased that the Labour frontbench see the dark turn at the heart of this legislation and will be whipping to oppose.

Like those giants who have protested before them, the women mourning Sarah Everard and demanding change will not be cowed into submission by a legal framework intent on silencing them. Saturday’s shameful scenes put protesters and the government on a collision course. This time, as ever, it is the protesters who are on the side of the angels.

Ian Lavery is the Labour MP for Wansbeck and former party chair.

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Rishi Sunak’s Budget Explained In Two Minutes

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Chancellor Rishi Sunak has delivered his budget in the House of Commons as the UK plots a course out of the Covid crisis. 

Here are the key points. 

Furlough extended until September

The emergency wages scheme was due to close at the end of March, but Sunak has extended the UK-wide scheme until September. However, he will taper the Treasury’s 80% contribution from July. 

Universal Credit uplift to stay… for 6 months 

The £20-a-week uplift to Universal Credit will be extended for a further six months. But it is likely the government will continue to face pressure to make the uplift permanent.

Stealth income tax rise 

Sunak introduced a four-year freeze on income tax thresholds.

The move does not hike taxes as such, but will be viewed as a stealth tax in that it will drag employees into higher tax bands as their salaries rise. 

It has been suggested the freeze will bring an extra £6bn into the Treasury coffers. 

The pensions lifetime allowance, and the annual exempt amount in capital gains tax, will also be maintained at current levels until April 2026, he said. 

Hike in tax on big business

Sunak announced he will raise corporation tax, which is paid on company profits, from the current 19% to 25% in April 2023. 

Small businesses with profits of £50,000 or less will continue to be taxed at 19%.

The measure will be controversial among some low tax-backing Tory MPs. 

Sunak stressed the UK would till have lowest rate is the lowest in the G7, with France firms paying 33% and Germany’s 30%. 

Joe Biden’s new US administration is reportedly preparing to raise its corporation tax level from 21% to 28%. 

95% mortgages and stamp duty holiday 

Sunak said help for home-buyers is on its way with the return of 5% deposits. As part of a mortgage guarantee scheme on properties worth up to £600,000, the government will underwrite the remaining 95% of the loan.

He said it was a “policy that gives people who can’t afford a big deposit the chance to buy their own home”, adding: “As the prime minister has said, we want to turn generation rent into generation buy.”

In a separate move to bolster the property market, Sunak extended the stamp duty holiday on homes worth up to £500,000 until the end of June. 

Total cost of Covid hits £325bn

Sunak has pumped extra £1.65bn into the rollout of the Covid vaccination programme. 

He told MPs the total Covid-19 support package amounted to a staggering £352bn, or £407bn once other fiscal support is included.

He said: “Coronavirus has caused one of the largest, most comprehensive and sustained economic shocks this country has ever faced and, by any objective analysis, this government has delivered one of the largest, most comprehensive and sustained responses this country has ever seen.”

Covid-hit firms to share £5bn grant fund

Businesses hammered by Covid, such as shops, pubs, clubs, gyms and hair salons, can apply for grants of up to £18,000 as part of a £5bn scheme.

He added that the 5% reduced rate of VAT for the tourism and hospitality sector will be extended for six months to the end of September, with an interim rate of 12.5% for another six months after that.

Super deduction

The chancellor announced a new “super deduction” for companies investing after the Covid pandemic. He said the new measure for investing firms can see them reduce their tax bill by 130% of the cost.

Alcohol and fuel

All alcohol duties will be frozen for the second year in a row and the planned increase in fuel duty has also been cancelled, the chancellor said.

Contactless payment limit

The contactless payment limit is to more than double to £100 from £45. While legally in force from Wednesday, the increase will not happen immediately as firms will need to make systems changes.

Money for the Union

Sunak announced an increase in funding for the devolved administrations by £1.2bn for the Scottish government, amid growing demands for a second independence referendum.

He also announced £740m for the Welsh government and £410m for the Northern Ireland Executive.

Arts funding boost 

Sunak allocated £400m to help museums, galleries and especially theatres in England to reopen. 

This is in addition to the £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund, established by Sunak and culture secretary Oliver Dowden. 

There will also be a £300m package for sports – much of it targeted at cricket.

Treasury jobs moved north 

Hundreds of jobs will be relocated from London to Darlington under the chancellor’s Treasury North project.

Sunak said that after “a lot of thought and energy”, the new economic campus would be in the north-east market town. 

Civic leaders across the north had made overtures in recent weeks for the Chancellor to send Treasury jobs their way.

A new £12bn UK infrastructure bank will be established in Leeds, with £10bn of government guarantees, Sunak added. 

Freeports announced

Sunak announced the establishment of a new set of freeports, something he claims was only possible post-Brexit. 

They are: East Midlands Airport, Felixstowe and Harwich, Humber, Liverpool City Region, Plymouth, Solent, Thames and Teesside.

The policy will give tax breaks, cheaper customs and make planning regulations simpler for firms. 

Domestic violence cash boost

Sunak announced an extra £18m for domestic violence programmes. 

It comes after the Covid lockdown saw a rise in attacks and domestic violence killings. 

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Trump Returns To Political Stage And Hints At 2024 Presidential Run

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NEWS & POLITICS

Former President Donald Trump took to the stage on February 28, for the first time since leaving office, with a typically fiery speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Trump called for Republican Party unity as he continued to stoke divisions across America with misinformation about the 2020 election.

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Rishi Sunak Says ‘More’ Financial Support To Come In Budget

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Rishi Sunak has indicated he will extend emergency support packages as the coronavirus lockdown is unwound and did not deny he would first raise taxes before cutting them ahead of the election.

The chancellor insisted ahead of this week’s Budget that he is in favour of low taxes but said he needs to repair the public finances from the “shock” of the pandemic.

He did not deny telling Tory MPs in private that he would raise them now before cutting them in a pre-election Budget in the future.

Sunak said he must “level with people”, with Covid having had an “enormous hold on our economy” that will cause debt to “rise indefinitely” if borrowing continues after the recovery.

But he suggested current support packages for jobs and businesses, such as the furlough scheme, would continue as England comes out of the national lockdown in the coming months.

He said he wants to “support people and businesses along that path” to ending restrictions steadily until June 21, as set out by Boris Johnson.

“We went big, we went early and there’s more to come next week,” Sunak told Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday.

The chancellor was pressed on whether he told Conservative MPs in private that he would seek to raise taxes now and then cut them before the election.

“I think in the short term what we need to do is protect the economy and keep supporting the economy through the road map, and over time what we need to do is make sure our public finances are sustainable,” Sunak said.

“That isn’t going to happen overnight, that’s going to be work that takes time given the scale of the shock that we’ve experienced but if you’re asking do I want to deliver low taxes for people, of course I do.”

Sunak said he cannot talk about tax outside the Budget and declined to say whether he would stick by the manifesto pledge not to raise the rate of income tax, VAT or national insurance.

Treasury sources did not deny a report suggesting the chancellor plans to raise £6 billion by freezing income tax thresholds for at least three years.

The Sunday Times said he would freeze the £12,500 point at which people start paying the basic rate of income tax and the £50,000 threshold where they begin paying the higher 40p rate, as he aims to raise £43 billion a year.

The move would allow Sunak to raise extra funds without breaking the manifesto pledge that guaranteed the Conservatives would not raise the “rate” of income tax.

But it was estimated the move would push an extra 1.6 million people into a higher tax bracket before the next general election is due in 2024.

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Raab Rejects Demands From Anti-Lockdown Tories To Lift All Covid Restrictions By May

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Piers Morgan Shuts Down Sarah Palin During Heated Row About Donald Trump

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Horned Viking ‘Shaman’ Who Stormed Capitol Now Willing To Testify Against Trump

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